Economist to discuss crisis

Galbraith has called the state of the U.S. economy the most perilous in his lifetime.

IF YOU GO
What: The Speakers & Issues Series presents economist James Galbraith, whose talk will be "Inequality and the Economic Crisis"
Where: Akin Auditorium, Midwestern State University campus
When: 7 p.m. Monday
Admission: Free
Next in the series: T. Colin Campbell, "The Health Care Crisis and Its Missing Link," 7 p.m. March 29, Akin Auditorium
Information: mwsu.edu/sis

Not that Keynesian economist James Galbraith is a doomsayer, but he is not one to gingerly tiptoe around the subject of today's economic situation.

"I'm as gloomy as they come," said Galbraith, who will present the talk "Inequality and the Economic Crisis" at 7 p.m. Monday as part of the Midwestern State University Speakers & Issues Series. "But I try to leaven that with what I have to say."

Galbraith's talk, the second economics lecture in the series (the first was by Lloyd Dumas on Feb. 9), will take a hard look at the economic crisis.

"I think people are well aware that we've been running into economic difficulties," he said. "I will give my overview and perspectives on where things went wrong and what went wrong with the cures."

He sees things going wrong four decades ago.

"My perspective is historically quite deep. It goes back to the turning point of the 1970s and to the abandonment of effective regulation and supervision of finance in the 1990s and 2000s."

One of his big questions is, "Why did the government permit the financial sector to run wild?"

Galbraith mentions, as well, the loss of control over the energy crisis and how that has played a role in the country's economic difficulties.

"What is happening now (with gas prices spiking to around $3.40) is a very strong indicator," Galbraith said, of that loss of control over the energy crisis and subsequent loss of control when it comes to the economy. When it looks like things are getting back on track, he said, suddenly, "Gas goes up like a rocket."

Galbraith, the Lloyd M. Bentsen Jr. chairman of government/business relations at the University of Texas' Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, was one of the few economists who foresaw the financial crises of 2008 and he is considered one of the country's foremost economists. His latest book is "The Predator State: How Conservatives Abandoned the Free Market and Why Liberals Should Too," and his recent research focuses on the measurement and understanding of inequality in the world economy.

He has called the state of the U.S. economy today the most perilous in his lifetime — the most perilous since the late 1920s.

But he told Bill Moyers on PBS' "Bill Moyers Journal" in 2008 that, unlike European countries that suffer from economic problems because they simply don't have a strong system in place, we already have a system that has worked in the past — a government capable of acting as last-resort lenders, that can borrow and spend as needed and that can handle an economic crisis.

Unlike other economists, he also isn't worried about the country's high deficit. In fact, he does not see any danger in having long-term deficit.

Our problem, he said, is a policy problem and he's not sure today's politicians will do what they need to do to get the economy back on track.

Galbraith said jokingly that he's an "equal opportunity detractor" when it comes to today's politicians.

"The detractors will find something to like in what I say," he said.

If the economy is to make a recovery, Galbraith added, "The political leaders would have to get much more serious, and they have no intention of doing that."

Admission to Monday's Speakers & Issues lecture is free, though donations are appreciated. The next talk in the series will be "The Health Care Crisis and Its Missing Link" by T. Colin Campbell at 7 p.m. March 29 in Akin Auditorium.